Sharad Pawar, Tejashwi, Raghav Chadha Named In I.N.D.I.A's 13-Member Coordination Panel

The Opposition alliance announced the name of the 13-member coordination committee on Friday. The I.N.D.I.A bloc has yet to announce the name of the convener for the group.

Opposition parties in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) on Friday announced the names of the members of the bloc's coordination committee. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Bihar Deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav, JD(U) leader Lallan Singh, AAP MP Raghav Chadha, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, SP leader Jadhav Ali Khan, CPI leader D Raja, NC leader and former Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah, and PDP chief and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti are all part of the 13-member panel. The committee will make decisions to streamline the working of the pre-election alliance.

Another member from CPI(M) will be added to the panel. 

The committee will decide the national agenda, common campaign issues, and common programme outlines. The Opposition however did not name its convenor.

Before the announcement of the panel, I.N.D.I.A postponed the unveiling of its logo on Friday morning, following last-minute design-change suggestions by leaders of the constituent parties.

The alliance leaders of INDIA on Thursday held informal talks in order to chart a concrete roadmap and a structure for cooperation among the alliance to fight the ruling party BJP head-on in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. 

Meanwhile, before the Opposition's meeting started on Friday, leaders of the constituent parties slammed the centre's decision to form a panel to explore the possibility of 'one nation, one election'. They said the BJP was scared of their unity and it was merely a "conspiracy" to hold the general elections early.

Earlier on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party took a jibe at the opposition as it set the stage for its third meeting in Mumbai. BJP labelled the INDIA bloc as a “selfish alliance”, BJP leader Sambit Patra accused it of promoting and protecting the interests of families at the helm of its member parties. He said, “The meeting of 'Ghamandia Gathbandhan' is going to take place in Mumbai today. These parties have done scams and corruption worth Rs 20 lakh crores. It's a selfish alliance...Their agenda is maximum profit from corruption.” 

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister also supported Patra's statements and said, “This selfish alliance already has six contenders for the PM post so far. I believe people know that the country has achieved many milestones under PM Modi's leadership, and their trust continues to be with him."